Female Vice President Says CBS Discriminated

ST. LOUIS (CN) – A former CBS executive claims in court that she was fired for being a woman in the media conglommerate’s boys club. Kathryn Pavelonis was vice president, director of sales, with CBS when she was fired on Aug. 23, 2011. Pavelonis said CBS routinely treated female managers differently than their male counterparts. “Such discrimination included, but is not limited to: excluding plaintiff and other female employees from some important corporate-related social events; and assigning plaintiff and other female managers heavier work loads than similarly-situated male managers,” according to the complaint in St. Louis Circuit Court. CBS allegedly fired Pavelonis for serious misconduct, but she denies having commited any of the allegations. Pavelonis further claims that a male counterpart engaged in similar misconduct and was not fired. After firing her, CBS also allegedly replaced Pavelonis with a man. Claiming that the sexual discrimination caused emotional distress and mental anguish, Pavelonis seeks punitive damages as well as lost wages and benefits. She is represented by Jonathan Berns of Dobson, Goldberg, Berns & Rich. CBS Corp., CBS Radio Stations, CBS Radio, CBS Radio Holdings and CBS Radio Sales are named as defendants.